Monday, August 01, 2016

Western TV Legends Giveaway

As Olivia put it, the time has come to "bask in the glory of dust and horses and old-fashioned valor for a few days."  It's Legends of Western Cinema Week!  Please check out all the good fun on A Lantern in Her Hand and Meanwhile, in Rivendell... all week long.


I'll be doing another post or two this week too, but to start things off, let's have another giveaway!  Cuz you know I can't resist giving things away :-)


Thanks to some crazy, random happenstances, I currently have spare DVDs of five legendary western TV shows.  And soon, they will belong to five of you.  Here's a whole lot of info about each item:

1.  Bonanza Collector's Edition Discs 1 and 2.  Bonanza is about prosperous Nevada rancher Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene) and his three sons, Adam (Pernell Roberts), Hoss (Dan Blocker), and Little Joe (Michael Landon).


This is a collection of episodes that are in the public domain, so they're pretty easy to find.  This set is used.  Both discs play fine in my DVD player, but their picture quality is not the greatest, as they appear to be recorded from fairly old film copies.  Some episodes are clearer than others.  I already have all these episodes in a different collection, which is why I'm willing to part with these.

Disc 1 -- "The Ape" with Leonard Nimoy, "The Avenger" with Vic Morrow (one of my absolute favorite Bonanza eps), "The Blood Line" with Lee Van Cleef and Jan Sterling, and "The Fear Merchant" with Gene Evans.

Disc 2 -- "Escape to Ponderosa" with Gloria Talbott, "Blood on the Land" with Everett Sloan, "The Spanish Grant" with Sebastian Cabot, and "The Spitfire" with Jack Elam.


2.  Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman the complete first season.  I love this show!  I love it so much, I own the entire series.  Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman follows the adventures of a woman doctor (Jane Seymour) who comes to rough-and-tumble Colorado Springs and tries to prove she can handle doctoring on the frontier.  Throw three adopted children and a mysterious, handsome guy named Sully (Joe Lando) into the mix, and, well, what more could you ask for?


This is the complete first season on 5 discs in two cases that fit inside a slipcover, as shown above.  This set is also used, as it was my mom's until she got the whole series as a gift.  All five discs play for me.


5.  The Lone Ranger compilations.  The Lone Ranger is the first western TV show I have memories of watching.  Anyway, in it, the Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore) and Tonto (Jay Silverheels) battle bad guys in a grand quest to bring law and order to the west.  This show is the most kid-friendly of those I'm offering here -- my kids enjoy this one.



As you can see, this is actually two different sets put out by two different companies.  Like Bonanza, there are some episodes of The Lone Ranger in the public domain, which is what these are from.  The picture quality on these is okay, but not great.  The disc on the left contains "A Message from Abe," "Tenderfoot," "High Heels," "Old Joe's Sister," "Cannonball McKay," and "War Horse."  The disc on the right contains "Enter the Lone Ranger," "The Lone Ranger Fights On," "The Lone Ranger's Triumph" (the very first three episodes of the show, which tell the story of how John Reid became the Lone Ranger), "War Horse," "Rustler's Hideout," "Pete and Pedro," "High Heels," and "Legion of Old Timers" (my kids' favorite).  As you can see, there are two episodes that are in both collections, so total you'll get 13 different episodes.  These are used and play for me (they used to be mine until I replaced them with a different collection).


4.  Maverick Television Favorites.  Maverick is a comic western that follows the mis-adventures of gamblers Bret and Bart Maverick (James Garner and Jack Kelly).  It's light-hearted and fun, and often spoofs more serious westerns.


Presented here are three episodes on one disc:  "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres" with John Dehner (absolutely my favorite Maverick episode ever), "Pappy" with Adam West and Virginia Gregg, and "Gun-Shy," which is a spoof of legendary western show Gunsmoke.  This is also a used copy that my parents passed along to me -- but I have this exact same set already myself (thanks to Millie).  This disc works fine in my player, and the picture and sound are good, though the picture does have what my brother used to call "sprinkles" here and there.


5.  Wanted:  Dead or Alive the complete first season.  This is the show that made Steve McQueen famous.  He plays Josh Randall, a bounty hunter with a conscience.  Unlike the other shows here, which were all an hour long, W:DOA episodes are only half an hour long.  But they can pack more -- and better -- storytelling into half an hour than most shows could manage with twice the running time.


This is the complete first season on 4 discs.  Guest stars include James Coburn, James Best, Michael Landon, Warren Oates, and DeForest Kelley.  It is brand-new and unopened -- I already own this entire series, but I won this as part of the awesome can't miss life-changing oh man seriously giveaway (TM) from Millie at Classic Forever and have been holding onto it until just the right time to pass it along to someone else.  And that time is NOW!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

This giveaway runs through Monday, August 8. I will draw five winners (one for each show) on Tuesday, August 9, and post the names of the winners that day, as well a notify them by email.

I can only send these to US addresses because of shipping being so expensive these days. Of course, if you have a friend who lives in the US that is willing to have it shipped to them for you, that's fine, but I won't send them internationally.

PLEASE make sure your information for the giveaway widget includes your current email address so that if you win a prize, you'll get the email informing you that you won! If you don't reply to my email within one week, I will choose another winner and award your prize to them instead.

The first way to enter, as you see, asks you to leave a comment telling me your top two prize choices. I do my best to match winners with their choice of prizes, but that doesn't always work out. I will do my best.  If you already own one or more of these DVD sets, please say so -- that way they can go to someone who doesn't own them yet!

You can enter via this widget:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

27 comments:

  1. Yaaaay! Giveaways always spice up a blog event, and since I'm not doing one I'm super glad you are. :-)

    Seeing as I already own Dr. Quinn and I have easy access to Bonanza, I think my first choice would be Maverick. Or Wanted: Dead or Alive.

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    1. Emma Jane, I have been holding onto these for months, anticipating you having this week again so I could find them new homes.

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  2. Eeeeekk! What an amazing giveaway, as always, Hamlette! :D

    If I win, I might or might not die--that is, become Extremely Excited--if I were to obtain that copy of Dr. Quinn. (Because. You know.) That'd be my first choice; my second would be Wanted: Dead or Alive. :) Thanks again so much!!

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    1. (Oh, I forgot: Maverick also looks entertaining, but I'm not all that interested in the other two options, so go ahead and pick different winners for those should such a situation arise :))

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    2. Olivia -- whew! I hope you wouldn't actually die. I'd hate to feel like I should disqualify you on grounds that winning would make you promptly expire.

      Dr. Quinn is just so heart-warming, huh?

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    3. Fret not thyself--'tis a risk I gladly take for myself.

      Indeed so :)

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  3. I don't think I've seen even one episode of Wanted Dead or Alive...
    And, sorry, but at the risk of being offensive, Dr. Quinn makes me sick

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    1. Quiggy -- you are missing out! (And, um, okay. You probably like stuff I can't stand too. It happens.)

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  4. I would love to have any of these DVD's, but my top two choices would be Wanted: Dead or Alive or Dr. Quinn. The other three shows I grew up watching as reruns (my first crush, at age 7, was on the Lone Ranger . . . or maybe it was really on Silver), so I love them but would rather watch something new-to-me. :-) Thanks for the fun giveaway!

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    1. Jilly, the Lone Ranger was one of my first crushes AND first heroes. I watched the '50s movie over and over and over as a little girl, and then got my hands on some of the show's eps when I was a teen. Really love him. But all of these are good!

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  5. Ah, this looks so good! I've seen Bonanza and I've seen the Maverick movie with Mel Gibson and James Garner (haha, he's in both?!) but not that one. Dr. Quinn and Wanted: Dead or Alive looks so good, but never mind... I am not American. ;) I completely understand about postage stuff... but anyway, I think the giveaway looks really cool! :D

    ~Miss Meg

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    1. Miss Meg -- that's what makes it so funny in the Maverick movie when James Garner turns out to be Bret's Pappy, because he played Bret in the original show, and also their Pappy in the ep on this disc.

      Try to find Wanted: Dead or Alive on YouTube! Last I checked, there were loads of eps there.

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  6. Woah... wait a minute... James Best is in Wanted: Dead or Alive??? Every single thing I watch from the 50's/60's I look for him! Thankfully it happens often enough, but it never fails to be exciting. :)

    So, yes, that is my definite first choice.

    And looking over again everything that you're doing... you are living your fairy-godmother calling out very well. ;)

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    1. Eowyn, yeah, James Best is in an ep or two. He's in one of my favorite episodes of Combat! too. Guy was all over!

      And thanks :-) I do my best! Though this weekend, my kids think I'm an evil fairy godmother instead, as I'm giving myself a treat and have left them with Cowboy for the first time in their tiny lives. I promised to bring them presents, though...

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    2. Oh thanks for telling me! I looked up that episode directly and it looks exactly the type of story in which he was at his most moving. Now just to find it...

      Speaking of Combat!... have you seen/do you recollect the Bonanza episode with Vic Morrow as Lassiter? He is quite good and there are more similarities to Riders of the Purple Sage than just his name.

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    3. YES! That's the "Avenger" episode in this collection! It ties for my fave Bonanza ep everrrrrrr. And you know, I never noticed the similarities to ROTPS, having seen the ep loooong before I read that book, but you're right -- hmmmmMMMMMmmmmmmm.

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    4. Oh, and search YouTube for Combat! eps. Most of them are on there.

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  7. !!!!!!!!! *calming down* But WOW. Choices, choices, choices... WHAT TO DO??? Okay, my first choices would be "Wanted: Dead or Alive" (looks very good and super intriguing), Dr. Quinn, and then maybe Bonanza. :D Thank you so much!!

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    1. Heidi, why be calm? These are seriously good shows!!!

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    2. P.S. I forgot to mention ones I'm not interested in so much. That's probably the Lone Ranger... *ducks* I've only seen a couple early episodes, though, so don't judge me... PLEASE don't judge me!! ;P

      Hee. ;D

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    3. Heidi! I am agog! I am aghast! No, actually, I'm not surprised -- it's got way less "human interest" angle to it, so I can see you being less interested.

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  8. I'd like Maverick first, then Wanted: Dead or Alive. Wanted: Dead or Alive is such a fun show! I don't have the first season though...and of course I'd love to! After all, Steve McQueen is one of the best cowboys out there isn't he? What a fun giveaway!

    I don't need any of the others, having been collecting for some years already. :)

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    1. Annie, yeeeeeeeeeees, isn't McQueen just wonderful as a cowboy? Some people just aren't as believable as he is in the era, garb, etc.

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  9. My first choice would be Dr Quinn: Medicine Woman, and second... Oh probably Wanted: Dead or Alive. I'm not not interested in any of them, but the only one I'd be properly definitely interested in is Dr Quinn... The rest I've never heard of, so I'm going off your reviews. Does that make sense??? :D
    H.M.

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